*SC* (Mandy)

So yeah, That’s me. Mandy. I’m Shifteds Graphic Designer/Co-owner and resident Shifted Chick.  I absolutely love the motorcycle community and everything that goes a long with it. Oh, and of course my two little ones. I’ll be one of the main authors of this blog, but there will be posts made by Mike “Bump” and maybe, if I can get him to stay still long enough, Paul. Those are the other owners, in case you were wondering. Maybe I can get them to even give me a quick blurb for here, maybe not. Anyone want to wish me luck on that? No? Ok, moving on then.

I was born and raised in Jacksonville, FL. You could say that motorcycles are in my blood. Seeing as my earliest memories was riding on the back of my moms Boyfriends cruiser with this bright blue sparkly helmet. Since then, I was hooked.  My dad rides as well, and even though he’s on a harley, he doesn’t snub his only daughter for her love of, well, as he would say “Crotch rockets.” Just about every male in my family rides, I am the only girl out of a sea of boys born in my family, and the only one on a sportbike. Do I feel out of place with them? Not at all. The fact is, as long as it has wheels, you’re accepted. Now yes, I know, not everyone feels that way. But I guess, if you can get someone as stubborn as my dad to accept me on a sportbike, there is hope out there for everyone else.

Ok, what else huh? Oh I know, my embarrassing moments on a bike. Let’s start with when I took the basic riders course shall we. I remember we were supposed to be doing a quick stop. For those of you that don’t know, it’s where you get to about 20 mph, the instructor raises his hand, and you have to stop in this little white box. Well, it was my turn. I got on the throttle, got the bike to 20 mph, the instructor raised his hand, I hit the brake, endo’d over the front of the bike, and landed on my ass. Yeah, I was the first in the line to go at that. I thought I was going to cry. Not from pain, cause it didn’t really hurt, but out of sheer embarrassment. But hey, the instructor crashed worse than that later in the day so yeah, needless to say I passed. Another time? Another embarrassing moment on the bike for me was during a memory ride for a fellow rider. A friend of mine had contacted me about a rider that had passed away on his bike. She wanted to put together a memory ride for him and asked if I could get other riders there. I, of course, agreed, and proceeded to text, call, and email everyone I knew. The ride ended up being a great success, with about 25 riders. Which is awesome with only a couple of hours notice. Anyways, while stopped at a red light, we were all in double rows and I was just kinda standing there, bobbing to the music in my ears while waiting on the light to change. My bike, however, had other plans. It decided it wanted to take a nap, and started to make it’s way to the left to lay down. Mind you, this was a CBR1000rr. When I realized what was about to happen, I attempted to stop it from falling. I failed. Bike went down, everyone around me looked over with a general wtf expression and I just kinda looked around. Amazing thing about fellow riders, they are all quick to help. Several jumped off their bikes to help me pick up mine before the light changed, and I was just glad that it was dark and no one could see my beet red face.

Now, why did I share those embarrassing moments with everyone? Cause I am a gluten for jokes and punishment. No, actually, the opposite. Because it helps give a little more insight to me, to who I am and what I’m like. Everyone has embarrassing stories about riding. Some are funny, some are crazy, and some are just “Don’t ever tell that story again.” But one thing is for sure, they all help mold you as a rider and person. And they also make for great times swapping them at various rider events.

I think that may be enough about me for now. Hope to see everyone out there and Keep it rubber side down!